Wherever he goes and whatever he does these days, Mets lefthanderShawn Estes has his little black book by his side. Like thatother master of cool, Arthur Fonzarelli, Estes keeps his padchock-full of names and numbers. Unlike Fonzie's, it has nothingto do with landing the honeys.

Since Opening Day the Mets' five starters--Estes, lefty Al Leiterand righthanders Pedro Astacio, Jeff D'Amico and SteveTrachsel--have been playing a private game of Who's the Man? Afterevery start by one of the five, Estes goes to his book (which is,for the record, little and black) and enters numbers: One pointis awarded for a win, one for seven or more innings pitched, andone for each hit, sacrifice bunt, RBI and run scored by thestarter. After each of the five pitchers has made five starts,points will also be awarded for most strikeouts and fewest walksallowed during the marking period. Estes will then tally thenumbers and announce the results. The loser buys the other fouran expensive dinner. Then the calculations start over for anotherfive turns through the rotation.

"It's a good way to bond, and it keeps things a littlecompetitive between us," says Estes, who was acquired from theGiants in the off-season. "Unfortunately, I'm getting my buttkicked."

That Estes, who had thrown well despite an 0-2 record and 5.09ERA through Sunday, had been the team's least effective starterspeaks well for a staff that, to the surprise of many, hademerged as one of baseball's best. Estes and his four colleaguesranked second in the league with a 2.51 ERA and fifth with 90strikeouts. Most important, as the team's highly touted offensecontinued to struggle (the Mets' .237 average ranked 15th in theleague) and its Gold Glove-laced defense played porously (amajor-league-high 26 errors), the Mets' rotation was the primaryreason New York was 10-9 and only a game out of first place inthe National League East.

"We heard people questioning our rotation, but I think the guysin here knew the truth," says first baseman Mo Vaughn, who wassupposed to help rejuvenate the offense but had missed 14 gameswith a fractured right hand. "Everyone talks about hot youngarms, but to get to the World Series, you need veteran pitcherswith smarts and experience. Most teams are lucky to have two,maybe three. We have five."

While the Mets knew that Leiter (2-0, major-league-best 0.38ERA), the team's ace since 1998, was a lock for double-digit winsand that Estes and Trachsel (1-3, 2.42 ERA) had been productiveif inconsistent inning eaters throughout their careers, managerBobby Valentine could not have foreseen the early-seasondominance of Astacio (3-1, 2.89 ERA) and D'Amico (1-1, 1.71 ERA),who had battled injuries throughout his career.

Last year Astacio, 32, who pitched for the Rockies and theAstros, missed the final five weeks with a partially torn labrumin his right shoulder. Instead of undergoing surgery, he decidedto rest. The Mets took a chance and signed him to a one-year, $5million free-agent deal. On Sunday he had his first rough outingof the season a 6-3 loss to the Expos in which he gave up fourruns and eight hits in five innings. "The guy's just a hard-nosedcompetitor," says Mets pitching coach Charlie Hough. "Because hepitched in the altitude of Colorado for much of his career, somethought he wasn't this good. But he's a tough guy to face."

So is D'Amico, a throw-in when the Mets sent Glendon Rusch andLenny Harris to the Brewers and Todd Zeile and Benny Agbayani tothe Rockies in a three-way swap for rightfielder Jeromy Burnitz.Two seasons ago, when D'Amico went 12-7 and battled for theleague's ERA title (his 2.66 ranked third), the Brewersdesperately tried to promote the club's young ace as the next bigthing. Last year, however, a compressed nerve in D'Amico's rightarm limited him to 10 starts. It was yet another run offrustration for the 6'7", 250-pound finesse pitcher who owns oneof the game's best curves but has missed 2 1/2 seasons withinjuries.

When he learned of the trade to New York, the soft-spoken D'Amicowas taken aback. Then, once he thought about joining a perennialplayoff contender, the idea of a fresh start sounded appealing."It's nice to be somewhere where I don't have a track record," hesays. "I'm just going out, pitching and finding ways to compete.What more can I ask for?"

A free meal, perhaps.

Expos Backstop BlossomsBarrett's Hitting? Fuhgeddaboutit

It took him back-to-back blah seasons, but Expos catcher MichaelBarrett has finally figured out that the secret to success as amajor league hitter is to stay focused--on your fielding. "Now allI do is worry about catching," he says. "My Number 1 goal is tobe the best catcher in the league, to take care of my pitcher andmake as few mistakes behind the plate as possible."

According to the 25-year-old Barrett, such glove-centric thinkingequals automatic offense. Who's to argue? After hitting .214 in2000 and .250 last season, Barrett is surely one of the NationalLeague's early surprises. Through Sunday he was batting .404,with 17 RBIs. "Everyone always knew he could hit," says Metsreliever Scott Strickland, who played with Barrett on the Exposand remembers his .294 average in 134 major league games before2000. "I think his own preoccupations worked against him."

Barrett would agree. When he arrived at the Expos' springtraining camp two seasons ago, then manager Felipe Alou namedBarrett (who had split time between catcher and the infield as arookie in '99) the starting third baseman. Instead of feeding offAlou's high opinion of him, Barrett looked around at the otherregulars at that position--and promply freaked.

"In the NL East alone there was Mike Lowell, Scott Rolen, RobinVentura and Chipper Jones," he says, shaking his head. "I startedthinking of myself as a slugger like those guys. It was anidentity crisis." He was equally shaky afield, committing sevenerrors by mid-April before returning to catcher. Last year hebattled to regain his confidence. "When you're that bad," hesays, "it takes time to find your game again."

Last off-season Barrett lifted weights four days a week and spentthe other three hitting in the cage, running and throwing. Hereported to camp in the best physical condition of his life andhas been smoking balls into Olympic Stadium's leftfield gap. "Ino longer feel like I have to swing extra hard to hit the ball,"he says. "In fact, I no longer worry about hitting the ball atall. I just play."

Kenny Lofton's ResurgenceWell-healed If Not Well-heeled

When six-time All-Star centerfielder Kenny Lofton became a freeagent at the end of last season, his old team, the Indians, wasbeginning a budget-cutting youth movement, and the big-marketclubs were either set in center or spending on other needs. Onlythe White Sox showed any interest, signing Lofton to a punyone-year, $1.03 million contract with $375,000 in performancebonuses. It was a hurtful message: The belief in baseball wasthat Lofton, at 34, was through.

"I don't mind having to prove people wrong," he says. "I knowwhat I can still do."

Through the first three weeks of the season Lofton had done alot. He was among the major leagues' hottest players, batting.403 (third best in the American League) and leading the leaguewith 26 runs and 11 stolen bases while playing a niftycenterfield. All that had helped Chicago win 10 of its last 12games, including Sunday's 11-8 victory over the Tigers, and staya half game behind the Twins in the AL Central. Lofton creditedhis scorching start to one simple but elusive factor: goodhealth.

Last year he went on the disabled list for the third straightseason, missing 14 games in May with a strained left obliquemuscle. He was also held out of nine games in April with astrained right calf. Worse, Lofton says, he never fully recoveredfrom December 1999 surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff in hisleft shoulder, which he blames for his disappointing productionin the past two seasons. In 2000 Lofton hit a career-low .278,then dropped to .261 last year. This winter Lofton went on a yogaand Pilates program, rededicating himself to fitness. "I did alot of different things this off-season," he says. "One problemwith the shoulder was the fear factor. I was timid. Now myshoulder is as good as ever, and I go headfirst on slides again."

"He continues to surpass my expectations," says Chicago managerJerry Manuel. "He's playing with confidence, emotion andintensity. He gives us a swagger we didn't have, and the otherguys are feeding off of it."

Although he tries to feign indifference to the Indians, with whomhe spent nine of his last 10 seasons, Lofton admits that fewthings would be sweeter than knocking his old club off theirlongtime AL Central perch. When new Tribe general manager MarkShapiro decided to let his centerfielder go--along withrightfielder Juan Gonzalez, second baseman Roberto Alomar andleftfielder Marty Cordova--Lofton was angry. Now it's just amatter of getting even. In Chicago's three-game home sweep ofCleveland last week, Lofton went 6 for 14 with six runs.

"The people who started [the Cleveland dynasty] didn't finish,"he says of the organization's revamped front office. "The newpeople don't have the same understanding of what we went throughin those early days. They're oblivious to that."

But presumably they're well aware of what Lofton's doing now.

Meanwhile, Back in ClevelandLofton's Bad Rap

Though the White Sox' Kenny Lofton is tearing it up for theIndians' divisional rivals, his former teammates say they arehappy to have him out of boom-box range.

During much of his tenure with the Tribe, Lofton was the team'sself-appointed, unofficial deejay, usually controlling theclubhouse stereo system and making sure that hip-hop or R&B wasplaying at ear-blasting decibels.

"Kenny would put a lot of that crap on, and a lot of guys didn'twant it," says Cleveland reliever Paul Shuey. "This year we'vegot 25 guys trying to reach the same goal every day, instead ofworrying what music they're going to play. There's not as much'Me, me, me' this year. It's a much different atmosphere than inthe past, a much better atmosphere."

The Indians have reached a simple solution on what music to playin the post-Lofton era: none.

If the Yankees finish the season one game short of making theplayoffs, Bronx Bombers fans can look back in frustration at lastSaturday's game. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth and thescore tied at 4, Toronto reliever Dan Plesac struck out JasonGiambi with the bases loaded.

However, in a season marked by surprisingly inconsistent play,the top of the eighth stands as the Yankees' fatal frame. Withone out and Blue Jays runners Jose Cruz Jr. on first base andCarlos Delgado on third, Vernon Wells rapped a grounder that wasscooped up by first baseman Nick Johnson. Johnson stepped onfirst for the putout and then, instead of looking toward third,trapped Cruz in a rundown. While Cruz bounded between first andsecond, Delgado ran home with what would be Toronto's key fourthrun. If Delgado doesn't score, Giambi's at bat never becomes anat bat at all.